I would say controlled. Manipulate has a bit of a different meaning. It‘s used in a different context. For example, „the results of the election were manipulated.“ It‘s a bit more figurative, and means to change the outcome of something. It’s similar to controlled but more indirect. You might know the adjective, manipulative. A person can be manipulative, meaning to have an undue influence over another people. It’s close to say a person is controlling, but seems to carry a slightly different meaning to me.

The movements of the robot can be controlled ... . In robotics, often you have two main parts: the one part that moves through space and has metal parts, joints that move, motors, etc. is called an arm; and the other part that has programs, circuit boards, electronics, etc. is called a controller because it controls the arm. Control is a good verb here. The program tells the arm exactly what to do. The arm has no other option. Nothing else gives any direction to the arm. Manipulate is used when someone or something uses a lot of skill with many items to make something happen. Manipulate can mean to move an object in a complicated way. When the robot arm picks up an object, it manipulates the object.

i agree with rachel, the difference here is subtle but we (americans) would say “control” because robots can’t do anything on their own so we need to “control them.” we would not say “manipulate” a robot because that word usually means that you’re doing something TO IT and not making it DO SOMETHING. again, YOU CAN say that and people will understand you but they would know you really don’t understand the difference between the two words. good job though! 😉

Movements can be controlled. So I think controlled would be right word to fill in the blanks.

Control is better, but manipulates also would work in this situation. There are slight nuances, but nothing that greatly affects the meanings